In Lebanon, the absence of the state is reflected in many ways, and cannabis cultivation is the most absurd and scandalous of them all. It is alarming, yet ridiculous. Each year, with the beginning of summer, the Lebanese state, without fail, demonstrates the inefficiency and corruption of its institutions. This summer is no exception. In the distant plains were the cannabis crops are thriving, a familiar farce is set to play out once more.

Cannabis has been a “prohibited crop” since the 1930s. With the establishment of the Lebanese state centered around the capital, Beirut, “remote and deprived areas” emerged independently. The regions of the northern Bekaa were designated as such for a number of reasons.

First is their distance from Beirut. One must, however, keep in mind that it is a relative "distance," no more than a hundred kilometers, as Lebanon is small. Second, the areas in the northern Bekaa share a border with Syria, which contributes to cross-border smuggling activities. Syrian and Lebanese security measures have been lax in this region, just as in other border areas. Third, these areas are characterized by a rugged, barren landscape, rising from 1,500 meters to more than 2,000 meters above sea level. There are few water resources, making agriculture a challenge. Fourth, the region is home to traditional tribes who live according to their own familial and social norms, like generations before them, and have a healthy respect for power and weapons.

The Lebanese know that somewhere in the northern Bekaa there are “cannabis enclaves” whose residents have engaged in clashes with the Lebanese state since independence, in 1943. With the outbreak of the civil war in 1975 and the complete absence of the central state, the enclaves cultivation of prohibited crops enlarged their territory and expanded production to include opium, narcotic pills and cannabis indica, turning Lebanon into a hotbed of illicit crops.